JOHANNESBURG, 2 September — Fear that failure could deal a huge setback to the whole principle of global cooperation spurred negotiators at the Earth Summit to overcome stubborn differences yesterday. Ministers and officials were racing against the clock to agree a sweeping United Nations plan for easing poverty while protecting the environment before world leaders gather in Johannesburg today, hoping to sign off on the pact.
Exhausted ministers working on a 71-page template for the future of the planet pared a list of disagreements down to half a dozen — but they were the most contentious, pitting rich countries against poor, and the United States against Europe. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the business world to invest in the Third World, saying it would be of mutual benefit to both rich and poor to wipe out extreme poverty.
“Mobilizing business investment which is sustainable and produces positive results — both for the societies and the investing companies — is essential if the least developed countries are to escape their desperate poverty trap,” Annan told a business forum which grouped representatives of the world’s most powerful corporations.
Before that, he joined South African President Thabo Mbeki at the Sterkfontein caves 35 kilometers west of Johannesburg which were home to pre-human hominids more than three million years ago.
Each placing a bare left foot in a plaque of wet cement and signing below the imprint, they promised to protect the planet for future generations.
“In recollecting the past, we have to scratch not just the collective mind of historians, but also most importantly the hard surface of the African continent,” said Mbeki. “I hope this valley of human ancestors will inspire political leaders to emerge out of the Earth Summit with an actual, real, practical program to advance the common cause of sustainable development.”
Arguments over trade rules dividing rich and poor states and a row over promoting “green” energy that has split the European Union and most developing nations from OPEC oil exporters and the United States remained key sticking points, delegates said.
“If this summit fails, we may not see another,” one European delegate said. “People will say it’s a waste of time and money.”
A top UN official sounded an optimistic note. Jan Pronk told reporters a deal could be wrapped up before leaders gather in formal session today. That would spare them some undignified horse-trading when some seem keener to compare notes about war on Iraq, whose Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz has arrived.
“With this speed, it all could be settled by late tonight,” said Pronk, Annan’s special envoy. “Nothing is going to go to the heads of state.” But green groups reacted angrily to leaks of texts under negotiation on trade rules, saying they would subordinate UN environmental accords already agreed to regulation by the World Trade Organization, which they see as a tool of global business. (The Independent)
